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It's not uncommon for gym and fitness studio owners to experience a rough day for class attendances. But what if that rough day turns into an off week.. or month? Perhaps your class schedule needs a revamp or momentum needs an overall boost. Either way, you need a strategy to ensure low class attendances don't become a recurring theme at your facility.

Here's how you can use gym management software, effective planning, and some good old fashioned common sense to increase your class attendance –and generate a demand for more sessions in the process.

1. Keep your members happy!

Remember that signing up for a gym membership isn't just about keeping fit and healthy. Your members are paying good money for this privilege, and you'll need to justify the cost of the equipment, facilities, classes, training, support services, and overall levels of customer service that you provide.

Physically keeping a watchful eye over all these activities and aspects of your business (and making sure they're all providing customer satisfaction) would require you to be in several places at once. But with management software, you can easily keep track of your membership base, class scheduling, the flow of money through your system, fresh bookings – and of course – attendance.

We all know the occasional cancellation due to personal circumstances or prior commitments is unavoidable. However, the simple act of keeping your members happy can protect your business against cancelled memberships due to disappointed customers. If they're happy with the way you manage cancellations, they are more likely to remain with you.

2. listen to customer concerns

It's also natural for people to have quibbles with the attention or services they receive – and if you want to retain the loyalty of your membership, you'll have to be prepared to listen to these concerns, and more importantly, act on them.

Having an awareness of what's going on in your gym, (where the leaky shower heads are, which equipment is showing signs of wear-and-tear, etc.) is important for keeping on top of any potential trouble-spots at your gym. However, the feedback and complaints from your members should be the true red flags.

It's important to enable channels of communication for your members to vent their feelings. This could range from a word in the ear of their trainer to a more formal suggestion box or noticeboard system.

3. book a buddy

Having flexible contracts and scheduling may give you the option of filling up cancellation spots in specific classes with other existing members or people on your membership waiting list.

Don’t forget that you can also use Glofox’s Book-a-Buddy system to fill up those classes. With Book-a-Buddy, your members can bring a non-member friend along to a class, either by using their Service Credits, or by paying in advance for a friend or colleague.

4. keep your staff in-the-know

Any gym management software worth its salt will also have an analytics and reporting facility. For instance, Glofox's Report Builder gives you instant access to information on which of your classes are the most popular, which trainers generate the most positive buzz, and so on. This can help increase your revenues by understanding what is increasing your class attendances. Intuition is valuable, but nothing will beat data analysis.

All this information needs to be made available to your trainers and support staff on the ground. Scheduling changes, promotional offers, and class-specific guidelines can be sent to your staff via push notifications and messaging through the mobile app of your gym management software.

5. keep your members in-the-loop

The same mobile app communications tools should be used to keep your members up-to-date with the latest developments at your gym, including class timetables and scheduling changes, special offers, new facilities or classes available, and as a social channel to increase engagement and help foster that sense of community.

Bear in mind though, that this communication needs to be a two-way process, allowing for member feedback. Having a sense of ownership in the gym and knowing that their voices will be heard can help to increase class attendance and bring in new business.

6. help them spread the world

Your existing membership can be one of your greatest promotional and marketing tools, if you give them the means and the incentive to spread the word about you.

These incentives can have the dual benefits of swelling your ranks and giving your existing members more reason to attend their classes – because their friends will be going to them, too. Indeed, word-of-mouth advertising is known to be one of the most effective forms of advertising there is – all you need to do is make sure your service is worth shouting about.

over to you..

With a mobile app, reporting and communication tools, gym management software has a significant role to play in increasing class attendances. Just ask our satisfied clients. But remember, our software goes so much further. We’re here to help you dramatically increase your membership base and drive revenues for your business.

If you'd like to know more about what Glofox and our gym management software can do for you to boost your business, contact the team at Glofox or schedule a demo here.

About Us

We're on a mission to help fitness entrepreneurs WIN with simple, yet powerful, gym and studio management software. With a Mobile App tailored to your unique brand, members can book and pay for your services online or even from the palm of their hand.